Atelier Forêt
An editorial website for a Paris-based architecture practice known for light and materiality.
Editorial Web · Design & Development · 2023
Atelier Forêt is a boutique architecture practice in Paris known for their approach to materiality and light. They came to me with a beautiful portfolio of work and a website that actively undermined it — generic, template-feeling, and architecturally illiterate.
The brief
Build a website that feels like it was designed by architects, not for architects. The site should have the same rigour, restraint, and spatial intelligence as the buildings it documents. Nothing should be decorative. Everything should be considered.
Design decisions
Every decision was made in service of the photography. Architecture photography is where the work lives — the text, the metadata, the navigation are all supporting cast. So we designed a site where the images breathe, fill space, and command attention in a way that mirrors the experience of being in the buildings themselves.
Discovery & site visit
Visited three completed projects to understand how light and materiality work in their buildings. This informed the entire visual language of the site.
Type and grid system
Developed a bespoke editorial grid and type system using Canela for display and Neue Haas Grotesk for body. Both chosen for their architectural precision.
Build and image direction
Built in Next.js with Supabase CMS. Art directed the project photography to ensure consistency across 28 case studies.
Launch and handoff
Trained the team on the CMS. Published all 28 projects. Site went live to immediate positive response from both clients and the design press.
Time on site increased by 340% compared to the previous site. Inbound project inquiries increased 210% in the first quarter after launch. The practice has since been featured in three architectural publications, all of whom used the website as a primary source.
